THE Philippine National Police Drug Enforcement Group past 2 p.m. Sunday arrested three ‘high-value targets’ in Mindanao after they conspired to sell a kilo of shabu worth P6.8 million to an undercover officer in Zamboanga Sibugay, PNP chief, General Debold M. Sinas said.
Arrested during in Purok Santan in Bgy. Lumbog in Imelda, Zamboanga Sibugay were Crimalde Irali Tarawi, a 53-year old businessman from Bgy. Manokmangkaw in Simunul, Tawi-Tawi; Albasir Nuridjam Masihul, 26, seaweeds farmer from Bgy. Saw in Mabuhay, Zamboanga Sibugay; and Basir Baladji Alano,48, a businessman from Bgy. Tulay, Jolo, Sulu.
Alano was also identified as a card-bearing member of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) based in Tapul, Sulu and a son of one MNLF Commander Mesba Baladji.
The PNP chief said members of the PNP-DEG Special Operations Unit 9 under Brigadier Gen. Ronald O. Lee arrested the suspect during a buy-bust which they conducted with the assistance of operatives from the Zamboanga Sibugay Police Provincial Office and the Imelda Municipal Police Station.
Recovered during the sting were a plastic bag containing 18 heat-sealed plastic sachets containing at least one kilo of shabu valued at P6.8 million and the P2 million worth of boodle money topped by a marked P1,000 bill.
A Chevrolet SUV (JCT 5097) used by the trio to transport the drugs was also impounded by the PNP-DEG.
Lee said Tarawi is known as a major drug trafficking personality in Western Mindanao and Bangsamoro Administrative Region and has been under their radar since the start of the year. The other two suspects are known main contacts of Tarawi in his illicit drug activities in the region.
All three will be facing non-bailable charges for sale and possession of prohibited drugs under Republic Act 9165 or the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act of 2002, Lee reported to Sinas.
